As China, the US, etc confront corruption …
Singapore to Pay Citizens Growth Dividends
| Governments being corrupt or in debt are huge problems but hardly intractable. Some places have enough surplus to pay an extra income to residents. We trim, blend, and append five 2011 articles from: (1) China.org.cn, May 31, on corruption; (2) Bloomberg, Jun 4, on Afghan corruption; (3) Weekly Wastebasket, Jun 3, on ethanol by TCS; (4) Today, Apr 30, on Singapore; and (5) USBIG Newsletter, Spring, on progress by K. Widerquist. |
by China.org.cn, by Bloomberg, by Taxpayers for Common Sense, by Today, and by Karl Widerquist
- China launches probe into alleged graft at telcos
The Chinese communist party's chief disciplinary body has launched a large-scale anti-corruption campaign targeting executives of the country's three state-owned telecom operators, Caixin Magazine reported Monday.
Officials from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection have moved in recent weeks to detain and interrogate leadership at China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, the magazine reported.
Senior executives at the three telecom carriers have all been required to hand in their passports, Caixin reported, citing people close to the matter.
Seven high-ranking China Mobile executives have been punished since 2009. Former Party chief and deputy general manager of China Mobile Zhang Chunjiang has been removed from his official post and expelled from the CPC for taking bribes. Shi Wanzhong, general manager of human resources at China Mobile, was detained for accepting bribes from Siemens. Lin Donghua, former deputy general manager of China Mobile's Hubei branch, was also punished for serious corruption.
In March 2010, several regulatory authorities opened an investigation of Li Xiangdong, former general manager of China Mobile Sichuan's wireless music base. After meeting with central government auditors to discuss his assets and the allocation of company funds, he disappeared into the night with hundreds of millions of RMB. Luckily, he was caught by police before he could flee the country.
To see the whole article, click here .
JJS: Imagine if the US Government were as strict with American CEOs. The concrete canyons of Wall Street would become a cold place indeed. But at least one US official is addressing corruption -- albeit not in the US.
- Gates Calls for Afghan Anti-Corruption Steps as U.S. Troop Drawdown Begins
Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his government to step up anti-corruption measures and to improve services as U.S.-led troops begin a “modest” drawdown this year.
The “shift in military momentum provides the Afghan government an opportunity to strengthen the confidence of its people though economic development, fair enforcement of the rule of law, attacking corruption, and the provision of basic services,” Gates told journalists in Kabul yesterday.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other nations in the coalition, which have almost 150,000 troops in the war zone, plan to hand over the lead nationwide to Afghans in 2014.
Karzai reiterated his recent call for coalition forces to stop raiding homes and risking civilian casualties. While Gates said coalition leaders “mourn and profoundly regret” such losses, he said the Taliban inflicts the vast majority of civilian casualties.
The civilian death toll in Afghanistan rose 20 percent in 2010 from the year before, with insurgent attacks accounting for more than 90 percent of the increase, according to an analysis of coalition data published in the journal Science and released in March. The analysis was similar to the findings of a separate United Nations report.
To see the whole article, click here .
JJS: While winning a war may be an opportunity to cut corruption abroad, what could create an opportunity to cut corruption at home in the US? It’s not called “corruption”, but this system of spending public money to benefit insiders who contribute to political campaigns to the detriment of people and planet is a form of corruption, too.
- Just Say No to Ethanol
Significant shifts are emboldening candidates to reject subsidies for ethanol -- even in corn-fed Iowa. With the nation's fiscal situation looking dire, pretty much all subsidies are getting a closer look (and all of them should). In much of the country the antipathy for ethanol nearly equals the support it gets in the land of corn. When politicians pander in Iowa to gain votes, then the rest of the country knows they aren't serious about solving the deficit and reining in waste.
Tim Pawlenty, who as governor of neighboring Minnesota backed ethanol subsidies (not surprising because MN grows quite a bit of corn), called for phasing out ethanol subsidies and all energy subsidies in a Des Moines Iowa (!) speech announcing his candidacy. This was echoed days later by potential candidate Sarah Palin who, when asked about ethanol, said, "all of our energy subsidies need to be relooked at today and eliminated." But Mitt Romney continues to belly up to the bar for ethanol. And Agriculture Secretary (and former Iowa Governor) Tom Vilsack and the Obama Administration have embraced the ethanol boosters.
The US federal government mandates that ethanol be used to the tune of 15 billion gallons a year, subsidizes companies to use it with a tax credit, and protects the industry from foreign competition with a tariff. Let's demand that our elected officials -- and those seeking to be elected officials -- make eliminating all ethanol subsidies the first step in dismantling our clunky and perverse system of energy subsidies. With a $1.65 trillion budget deficit, we can't afford to binge drink on subsidies any more, the ethanol party must come to an end.
JJS: Instead of letting politicians have the discretion over spending public dollars there is an alternative -- you, the citizenry, could spend the funds. Some nations have already taken steps in that direction and others are considering it. Check out these highlights from around the world.
- Growth Dividends in by Sunday
The Ministry of Finance today announced that about 2.4 million adult Singaporeans would have received about $1.5 billion in Growth Dividends by Sunday.
Also, about 1.3 million Singaporeans, aged 45 and above, would have received about $500 million in CPF Medisave Top-ups.
The payments are part of the 'Grow & Share' Package announced by the Government in the 2011 Budget.
Most (80 per cent) of the 2.4 million Singaporeans would have received the higher Growth Dividend of $600 and $800.
The 'Grow & Share' Package, together with other benefits in Budget 2011, will help Singaporeans cope with higher costs of living, this year. The benefits that most lower- and middle-income Singaporean households get will be much larger than the increase in the cost of their household consumption baskets this year, said the Ministry.
To see the whole article, click here .
JJS: While the extra income that citizens of Singapore get from their government is not much, still, any payment at all exists in stark contrast to the enormous debts of better known governments who feel they must serve their own citizens less, not more.
What does Singapore do differently? One key difference is that the city-state recovers a lot of the socially-generated value of land by levying a tax on land values at a high rate. Having to pay the ongoing “land dues” motivates owners to forget about speculation and instead keep land parcels at best use. That’s not only efficient, it’s also fair.
Another locale that follows the same policy with the same merry results is Hong Kong. To see the whole article, click here .
What some societies have in place, others are considering doing. Check out these other excerpts from the newsletter of the US Basic Income Group.
- A conference on 'Ecology, Land Tax, Culture, and Basic Income'
June 3, the Basic Income Korean Network (BIKN), in conjunction with Cultural Action, and the Institute of Land and Liberty, held a symposium titled Ecology, Land Tax, Culture, and Basic Income as a part of the 5th Marx Communale that took place in Seoul National University.
Ecology, Land Tax, and Basic Income approached one of the most notorious social problems of South Korea -- the land price. Nam-Hoon Kang, professor of economics at Hanshin University and the representative of BIKN, asserted a model where the positive effects of land value taxation and basic income is seamlessly combined, simply by funding basic income with land value taxation.
The venue was packed by an eager audience for five hours.
- Germany: Best-seller & Pro-market party on board
1000 Euro for everyone: Freedom, Equality, Basic Income by Götz W. Werner and Adrienne Goehler, according to the Amazon.de website is currently in place No. 1,563 of all books being sold, but in the category ‘Social Justice’ it is No. 1.
The pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) of Germany has suggested a basic children’s income to replace all parenting and child payments.
- Former Prime Minister launches basic income campaign
Former French Prime Minister (2005-2007) Dominique de Villepin has recently launched a basic income campaign, which is supposed to be a central feature of his electoral platform in prospect of the 2012 Presidential election.
To see the whole article, click here .
JJS: The French get to debate equitable distribution of society’s surplus while Americans must make do with haggling over subsidies! Oh, well, time will tell.
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Editor Jeffery J. Smith runs the Forum on Geonomics.
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